Chiasm and gradation in Uzbek poetic speech: structural-semantic and functional features of poetic syntax

Abstract

This article is devoted to a systematic examination of the role of chiasmus and gradation in Uzbek poetic discourse and their potential to enhance artistic and aesthetic effect within poetic syntax. In poetic theory, the rhythmic organization of speech, its melodiousness, logical coherence, semantic intensity, and emotional-expressive value are regarded as fundamental characteristics of poetic language. The main aim of the study is to determine the status of chiasmus and gradation within the system of stylistic devices and to provide a scientifically grounded description of their structural-semantic types, mechanisms of formation, and functional roles. The article consistently analyzes the relationship between chiasmus and antithesis, the semantic and pragmatic transformations of chiasmatic structures, as well as the lexical, morphological, and syntactic realizations of gradation and their compositional functions within poetic texts. The research methodology is based on a combination of synchronic and diachronic analysis, comparative-stylistic approach, and contextual and structural analysis. The results demonstrate that chiasmus and gradation, as poetic figures, play a significant role in ensuring the semantic integrity of artistic discourse, increasing expressive impact, intensifying semantic contrast and gradational development, and reinforcing the aesthetic clarity of the author’s idea. The study also highlights the role of chiasmus and gradation in the formation of individual authorial style within poetic syntax, emphasizing their capacity to enhance imagery, musicality, and semantic density. As a result, the conclusions of the research contribute to the development of poetic discourse theory, provide a methodological basis for further scholarly investigations, and offer practical value for philological studies in higher education by promoting a more refined culture of stylistic analysis.